The present invention relates to retaining walls for earth formations, and, more particularly is directed to such walls of the type wherein a retaining wall comprised of an assembly of stretchers is anchored in place through means of deadman anchors which are secured to the wall by anchor rods and then held in place with back fill.
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,482 discloses a retaining wall of the type with which the present invention is concerned and is particularly significant to the first embodiment of the present invention in that, like that embodiment, it employs precast cementitious stretchers. The first embodiment of the present invention is an improvement over that of my patent 4,068,482 primarily in that it employs connectors for the deadman anchor rods which are embedded into the bodies of the stretchers, rather than disposed between the stretchers. It is also an improvement over the invention of the patent in that it employs an improved connector for connecting the anchor rod to the deadman, which connector facilitates ease of assembly of the retaining wall structure and assures that a secure connection of the anchor rod is provided to both the deadman anchors and the retaining wall stretchers.
The second embodiment of the present invention differs from the first embodiment very significantly insofar as the construction of the stretchers is concerned. In the second embodiment, the stretchers comprise panels fabricated of resilient sheet material, such as steel. These panels are secured together by straps which also provide the connectors for the anchor rods which extend to the deadman anchors. A patent very significant to the retaining wall of the second embodiment is U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,873 to Vidal. The last embodiment shown in the drawings of that patent discloses a wall wherein panel-like stretchers are connected by a bolt which functions to both secure the panels together and to tie a "reinforced earth" type straps to the panels.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,873 to Vidal is also significant to the first embodiment of the invention in that it discloses connectors which are cast within cementitious retaining wall panels. These connectors, however, do not cooperate with tie rods in the manner provided by the connectors of the present invention.
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,864 is also cited as being of general significance to the invention of the present application. That patent discloses a deadman anchored retaining wall wherein anchor rods are secured to cementitious stretchers having stacking pads with rod receiving openings.
Additional art generally significant to the field of the present invention may be found in the references cited against my above discussed U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,922,864 and 4,068,482 as well as those cited against my copending application Ser. No. 839,443. Another reference generally significant to the provision of deadman or "reinforced earth" type anchors is U.S. Pat. No. 1.782,343 to Munster.